The Soviet Union used fear to keep its citizens in line, and that was certainly effective at keeping people from talking to the CIA about potential intelligence sources. This was unexpectedly excellent. This was fueled by revenge because their family or friends had been hurt or killed needlessly. We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on The Billion Dollar Spy, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by David E. Hoffman. . Hoffman presents the events in such a way the raises the stakes of each operation to its peak. . It is a gripping story of courage, professionalism, and betrayal in the secret world.” – RODRIC BRAITHWAITE BRITISH AMBASSADOR IN MOSCOW, 1988-1992. „The billion dollar spy” is the true story of an electronics engineer at a secret military aviation institute in Moscow who for almost seven years provided the CIA with a huge volume of sensitive and valuable intelligence on Soviet research and development (R%D) activities concerning radars, avionics, AA missiles, and other technologies. Another reason that it was difficult to find spies for the CIA is because of the quality of information they could provide. What’s a Concierge MVP? . The Russ spy Tolkachev, who helped the US beyond measure in the 80s, delivered info on "the MiG fighter, the MiG-25 high-altitude interceptor, the MiG-31 interceptor, and the MiG-29 and the Su-27 multi-role fighters..he compromised versions of the SAP-FIR radar and the ZASLON radar..." Sample writing. for being true. Subscribe. Armie Hammer has been dismissed from yet another film, this time Amma Asante’s Cold War thriller The Billion Dollar Spy, after accusations of sexual abuse and assault. Tolkachev and Guilsher’s final meeting took place in June of 1980. . He also had a dogged personality that helped him produce strongly until the end even when his health began to deteriorate. Full of suspense and intrigue. The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal David E. Hoffman No preview available - 2015. E840.8.T65 H63 2015. One of these led to his dismissal from the CIA that brought on a series of drunken incidents in the months that followed. This was a fascinating read. . Histories, and the crowded shelves of spy novels set during the era, offer a cursory and misleading view of the day-to-day reality as it was lived by the men and women who worked for the CIA and the KGB. Sometimes the CIA thought that he took too many risks while trying to obtain intelligence; however, other times they felt that it was necessary because of how important the information would be for national defense. Spies have to betray their own country by giving secret information to another, often enemy, country. Have too much to read? . His intelligence helped the US during Operation Desert Storm. Hoffman’s look into the story of Tolkachev, the billion-dollar spy, is exciting and thrilling, while also being a tragic emotional roller coaster. Unfortunately, the book didn't really deliver for me. The true story of a man who became the Pentagon's most valuable spy during the last years of the Cold War. In essence, Tolkachev didn’t care about any exact sum; rather, he just wanted American officials to keep their word. Unfortunately, the book didn't really deliver for me. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published The Good – The Billion Dollar Spy was my first “Cold War” espionage book and it has directed me to an entirely new genre of books to explore. He is leaning over the back of a chair, with a camera trained over a document. Gus Hathaway was the first Chief of Station in Moscow during the Cold War. . . Gripping.. more so for non-fiction, and the similarities between the espionage activities and what one sees in the movies is thrilling beyond words..understanding why US had an edge in technology well into the 90s is explained with the work of a man who decided, at great personal peril, to work for the greater good, and ultimately met his end because another self righteous American brat decided he wasn't given his due credit.. worth a read. Want to get smarter, faster? “The Billion Dollar Spy reads like the very best spy fiction yet is meticulously drawn from real life. Tolkachev was inspired by other dissidents’ works and his wife’s childhood in orphanages because of her parents being killed during Stalin’s Great Purge. Praise for David E. Hoffman’s The Billion Dollar Spy “The Billion Dollar Spy is one of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold War and all the more riveting . You'll love my book summary product Shortform. A KGB deputy director defected and told the CIA that Howard had been fired before being sent to Moscow as a spy. The Billion Dollar Spy: by David E. Hoffman - Summary & Analysis Preview The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman chronicles the six year relationship between the Central Intelligence Ag ... ency (CIA) and engineer, Adolf Tolkachev, who spied on the Soviet Union for the United States. New York: Doubleday. The CIA taught Howard how to use their own tactics and strategies against them. The narrative also serves as an effective character study of a clever and highly motivated man who routinely risked his life to damage the government he despised — and also of the CIA officers tasked with the competing goals of keeping him productive and keeping him safe. This is what happened to Tolkachev’s wife, Natasha. The two met several times before their last meeting in December of 1981. He should have been fired immediately, but the agency never considered him to be an insider threat and focused only on how Tolkachev could betray them. David E. Hoffman combines narrative and historical account throughout The Billion Dollar Spy to convey both facts and narrative concerning Adolf Tolkachev and his dealings with the CIA. Betrayal was a critical part of spy work and the culture of the CIA. He saw security measures as obstacles that he could overcome and not roadblocks that would stop him from getting more information. However, most people did not have access to valuable intelligence like Tolkachev’s top secret avionics information. “A scrupulously researched work of history that is also a gripping thriller, The Billion Dollar Spy is an unforgettable journey into Cold War espionage. He had been working with American spies since 1979, but they were all caught by the KGB (Soviet secret police). Information could be obtained by wiretaps, satellite surveillance, and photographs, but the most valuable information was most often obtained from human intel. David Hoffman talked about his book, [The Billion Dollar Spy: A true Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal], about Adolf Tolkachev, a Russian … He said he had information on ground radars and aircraft radars, but they ignored him at first because of a stand-down order. His White House coverage won three national journalism awards. Takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg: How to Build the Future (YC’s The Macro), The Best Things I Learned from Ashton Kutcher, Tech Investor, Best Summary + PDF: The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg, The Best Things I Learned from Sara Blakely, Spanx Founder, Best Summary + PDF: How Not to Die, by Michael Greger, All American Boys Book Summary, by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely, Every Day Book Summary, by David Levithan, The Song of Achilles Book Summary, by Madeline Miller, Interactive exercises that teach you to apply what you've learned. He was approached by a middle-aged Russian who asked if he was American. Tolkachev’s desire to help us harmed Russia in two ways: first, by giving us intelligence about what weapons they would have over the next 20 years; second, by making sure we knew how to counter any new weapons he told us about. Information could be obtained by wiretaps, satellite surveillance, and photographs, but the most valuable information was most often obtained from human intelligence sources. A fun read on how the CIA conducted espionage in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Billion Dollar Spy: by David E. Hoffman | Summary & Analysis Preview: The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman chronicles the six year relationship between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and engineer, Adolf Tolkachev, who spied on the Soviet Union for the United States. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, the Cold War and it's concomitant threat of nuclear extinction was constantly in our faces in the form of television specials and pop lyrics. Soon after, Tolkachev was assigned a new case officer named David Rolph. Want to get the main points of The Billion Dollar Spy in 20 minutes or less? The author gives background information about various characters and their families to explain why they did what they did. He even went above and beyond his work to check out documents completely unrelated to his own projects because he wanted to help the US. by Doubleday, The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal. Spies had to feel secure in knowing that they could safely communicate with the CIA without worrying about being identified or having their information leaked. The CIA stalled on this request before eventually giving it to him. Tolkachev likely recognized this as an inescapable reality, and he didn’t want money as much as he wanted to be shown respect for his work. “The Billion Dollar Spy is one of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold War and all the more riveting, and finally dismaying, for being true. This was a slow read for me due to holidays, travel and fact checking but extremely interesting. Several times in their private conversations, the CIA and Moscow operatives noted that Tolkachev was not afraid to die if it meant he could do some damage to the Soviet Union. A little too much rehashing of material. Meanwhile, the KGB questioned Tolkachev and insisted that his family knew nothing. Because the KGB is heartless. It could be a new type of radar that saves pilots’ lives by identifying high-tech Soviet planes. Tolkachev was one of the CIA’s most productive agents of the Cold War, providing the United States with intelligence no other spy had ever obtained. Over time, Tolkachev would make other requests for minor items like pencils or razors for his son. The Billion Dollar Spy is a page-turner that stands up to any spy novel, not only for its lively writing, but also because it isn’t just based on a true story, it is a true story. For me that’s a rare but welcome event and David Hoffman has my gratitude. There's also a very odd narrative choice to not examine Tolkachev's motivation and life before turning traitor until two-thirds of the way through the book. The Billion Dollar Spy Quotes Showing 1-30 of 45 “The one thing that proved to me you were CIA and not KGB is when you gave me those medicines to test on my daughter. For these reasons, they had trouble finding and securing agents in Moscow at first. That context m. An extremely compelling and exhaustively researched true story of soviet engineer Adolf Tolkachev who for years passed on the USSR's most valuable military secrets to the CIA. He clashed with some of his staffers because he believed that technical intelligence was more credible than human-gathered intelligence, and ordered a complete stand-down in Moscow after the KGB arrested two agents who had been spying on behalf of the US. John Guilsher was Tolkachev’s first case officer. This spellbinding story pulses with the dramatic tension of running an agent in Soviet-era Moscow—where the KGB is ubiquitous and CIA officers and Russian assets are prey. It hits the sweet spot between page-turning thriller and solidly researched history (even the footnotes are informative) and then becomes something more, a shrewd character study of spies and the spies who run them, the mixed motives, the risks. The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman chronicles the six year relationship between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and engineer, Adolf Tolkachev, who spied on the Soviet Union for the United States. David E. Hoffman covered Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign for the Knight-Ridder newspapers. “The Billion Dollar Spy is one of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold War and all the more riveting, and finally dismaying, for being true. LCCN: 2015003370. It's well-written, albeit dryly in most cases, but moves along at a good pace. "The Billion Dollar Spy is one of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold War and all the more riveting, and finally dismaying, for being true. Subscribe to get summaries of the best books I'm reading. How Do You Build One? After reporting on the State Department, he became Jerusalem bureau chief for The Post in 1992, and served as Moscow bureau chief, 1995-2001. It’s the reason why Stansfield Turner, CIA head at the time, decided to ban all operations in Moscow. . He continued to burn through money given to him by the CIA and had a close call when he almost got caught in an office where officials were asking for names of people who had access to certain technology. The Billion Dollar Spy or "the man who ruined the Soviet warplane industry in less than a decade" Shaunak Agarkhedkar. “The Billion Dollar Spy reads like the very best spy fiction yet is meticulously drawn from real life. Hammer's exit from Billion Dollar Spy, which was first reported by Variety, comes less than two weeks after a woman accused Hammer of rape and "other acts of violence" in 2017. Each country tried to infiltrate the other’s highly guarded secrets. . The Billion Dollar Spy is based on a real-life story. They were taken captive by the KGB because evidence from their home, which included money, spy camera equipment and meeting schedules had been discovered during that search. They were both very effective at their jobs, as they were able to trust one another in order to work together effectively. Armie Hammer (“Rebecca”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Another Round”) will headline the cast of Amma Asante’s Cold War thriller “The Billion Dollar Spy.”. „The billion dollar spy” is the true story of an electronics engineer at a secret military aviation institute in Moscow who for almost seven years provided the CIA with a huge volume of sensitive and valuable intelligence on Soviet research and development (R%D) activities concerning radars, avionics, AA missiles, and other technologies. A very illuminating non-fiction book based on recently declassified material. Shortform has the world’s best summaries of 1000+ nonfiction books and articles. As a result, he was able to provide the United States with valuable information about Soviet technology developments without letting increased risk deter him or his mission. Adolf Tolkachev and David Rolph had a mutual disdain for the Soviet Union, which helped them bond. David E. Hoffman covered Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign for the Knight-Ridder newspapers. Bush presidency. He explained in one of his letters that he wanted to inflict the greatest amount of damage on the Soviet Union as quickly as possible, despite having outlined a long-term plan for his involvement with the CIA. The KGB expelled him from the country. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal. David Hoffman’s The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal is a fascinating story, made more so because of how much it contrasts the Hollywood portrayal of espionage and spy craft. Tolkachev was the most productive CIA spies during the Cold … This is a good story of how the CIA operated in Moscow during the Cold War years. The Billion Dollar Spy is a wonderful non-fiction account of one of the greatest espionage assets ever developed by the US. That’s what made Tolkachev such an effective spy—he accepted that risk and carried out his actions anyway because he was disillusioned with the Soviet Union and wanted to get back at them for their oppression of him as a person. Tolkachev also made requests for his family, including things such as medicine and Western music. Learn About America's Most Valuable Spy In A Fraction Of The Time It Takes To Read The Actual Book!!! There is a cold, impersonal tone to these messages that filters into the narrative of the book, and the drama and stakes of what's happening is deadened by the feeling of wading through office memos. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Whenever his case officers brought up how risky it was to carry out certain activities, Tolkachev always shrugged off their concern by saying that they were taking risks every day by working there in the first place. After running and exfiltrating spy Victor Sheymov, Rolph took over as Tolkachev’s case officer. Tolkachev conducted twenty-one meetings with the CIA. It hits the sweet spot between page-turning thriller and solidly researched history (even the footnotes are informative) and then becomes something more, a shrewd character study of spies and the spies who run them, the mixed motives, the risks. However, he eventually took on increasingly dangerous forms of risk over time, which demonstrated his confidence and courage in the face of death. A lot of the book is built off of the cable traffic between the CIA's Moscow station and Langley, and you can tell. 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